Cloud service providers offer a variety of cloud computing resources based on software hosted by servers. The software is accessible by remotely-located client terminals over a communication network. The servers, optionally along with a network exchange point, storage device or other hardware, are located at one or more Points of Presence, each of which is referred to as a “PoP.” Each PoP is a facility where physical network connections to the servers of the respective cloud service provider can be established. The PoPs are distributed at geographic locations throughout a service area with the goal of positioning at least one PoP in close proximity to as many potential customers as possible.
Despite the diverse geographic locations of the PoPs, there are many customers that are not located close enough to locally connect directly to a PoP for one or more cloud service providers. For example, Oracle Cloud Resources deploys a network of PoPs that offer privately routed inter-region connectivity. Such a network is private, and provides consistent inter-regional performance in terms of low latency and jitter, and reliable bandwidth relative to the public Internet. But there is a practical limit to the number of PoPs that can be constructed, leaving some potential customers hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the closest PoP.
Potential customers seeking to connect to a cloud service provider often lack sufficient information to establish the requisite network connections. For example, a corporate entity in one city is unlikely to know whether a cloud service provider of interest has a PoP nearby to which a server associated with the corporate entity can be locally connected. Further, the corporate entity is also unlikely to know what network service providers operate networking resources locally, to establish a connection with a locally-accessible PoP. The corporate entity is even less likely to have knowledge of any third parties that operate intermediary networking resources that are not local to either the corporate entity or the cloud service provider.